How To Manage Bad Salon Reviews
Follow These 8 Steps After Your Salon Receives A Negative Online Review
We’ve all been there before and it never feels good to receive a bad online review from a client. And although it may be discouraging, you can also use it to improve your business. Receiving a bad review gives you a chance to recognize any issues, highlight the positives of your business and respond in a way that can gain client trust and loyalty. After all, it’s not always about what happened, but how you respond to it.
So if you’ve found yourself faced with a negative online review, read on for how to deal with it.
1. Don’t react emotionally
Take a deep breath before responding to ensure you’re not reacting emotionally. It’s important to stay calm and composed.
2. Read over the review carefully
It’s important to carefully read over the review multiple times to fully understand the client’s complaint or issue.
3. Don’t ignore or delete the review
Addressing the client’s concerns publicly and in a professional manner will prove to the client and potential clients that you care and want to fix the situation. Deleting the review comes across as dishonest and uncaring.
4. Respond promptly and professionally
Try to respond to the review in at least one business day. Start off by apologizing for any negative experience they may have had and offer a solution or potential resolution.
5. Keep your response short and to the point
Convey your message as efficiently and effectively as possible so you don’t leave any room for misinterpretation. However, do be sure to respond with empathy and put yourself in the client’s shoes. A little understanding can go a long way in resolving tense situations.
6. Invite the client to contact you directly
Instead of conversing on a public online platform, invite the client to discuss the situation further and provide a way for them to reach out to you.
7. Apply this lesson to prevent similar experiences in the future
Acknowledge what went wrong in the situation and take steps to prevent a similar situation happening in the future.
8. Consider offering an incentive or discount to the client
If you want the client to give you another chance, offer an incentive. discount, or to redo their hair at their next appointment. However, this may not always be the best step to take should you decide the client relationship isn’t worth or can’t be salvaged.
Want to encourage positive reviews? Follow the below tips:
- Ask for a review in person after the service is completed.
- Make the review process simple.
- Send a follow-up email or text thanking them for their visit, ask for a review and send the link.
- Share positive reviews on social media.
- Respond and engage with all reviews.
Check out five other things you didn’t learn in beauty school here.
